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Monday, October 27, 2014

New approach in math adds up for kids

"Lara Gurath wants to make sure her daughter can play more of her favorite video game." continues Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

It’s
important to her education, Gurath said. The program, DreamBox, looks
and sounds like a game, but it also teaches her daughter math.

Xaria
Gurath (left), 5, plays DreamBox Math on the iPad while her sister,
Kyra, 6, looks on Friday at their home in eastern Sioux Falls. The
Dreambox looks and sounds like a game but teaches math.

Photo: Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader)

The
first-grader is more than halfway through exercises usually reserved
for second-graders, and Gurath was told she might need approval from
someone at Anne Sullivan Elementary School before Kyra, 6, can move on
to the next grade level.

Fall teacher-parent conferences begin
next week at Sioux Falls public elementary schools. For Gurath, DreamBox
will be a topic of conversation.

“This is when you have to spark their interest in things,” Gurath said. “When they’re young.”

DreamBox
is only part of the evolution happening in Sioux Falls School District
classrooms as educators adjust to new curriculum standards and prepare
for new state math and reading exams this spring.

Math in
classrooms has changed so much that parents wonder how it might affect
their childrens’ future. Even Gurath wonders, though she likes DreamBox
and said she neither supports nor opposes the district’s altered
approach to math.

About two years ago, Jenny Downey noticed a
shift in her son’s third-grade homework. The 41-year-old mother of four
saw fewer equations and problems to solve. She saw more writing and more
charts, shapes and drawings.

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Hello, my name is Helge Scherlund and I am the Education Editor and Online Educator of this personal weblog and the founder of eLearning • Computer-Mediated Communication Center.
I have an education in the teaching adults and adult learning from Roskilde University, with Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Human Resource Development (HRD) as specially studied subjects. I am the author of several articles and publications about the use of decision support tools, e-learning and computer-mediated communication. I am a member of The Danish Mathematical Society (DMF), The Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics (DSTS) and an individual member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS). Note: Comments published here are purely my own and do not reflect those of my current or future employers or other organizations.